New Delta App Allows Passengers to Track Luggage [Video]

Well, thank goodness and let me say that it is about time! A few years ago, I flew into New York City to visit my friend Beth. Among the items on the agenda, Broadway plays, Bingo with drag queens and an Academy Awards party at Joe's Pub. I had lots of luggage with outfits for each event. Well, when I landed at JFK aboard my Delta airliner, I quickly learned that my body was the only thing in the Big Apple. My luggage was nowhere to be found. And I was about to spend the next 36 hours in the same pair of underwear.

(Photo illustration by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

I only wish I was kidding. And I could literally sprain my fingers typing out the entire story of what happened over the next day and half as I tried to a) locate my luggage and b) get it delivered to Beth's apartment in Brooklyn. Suffice it to say that I repeatedly called Delta Airlines, had several toll-free meltdowns and finally ended up breaking protocol and driving to a sketchy warehouse in Queens to collect my luggage . . . which had ended up on the shelf of a building that looked like some place Dexter would perform one of his kills.

But now, a crisis like this one can be averted. And, trust me, it was a crisis! I smelled and my boxers had become the poster briefs for the Environmental Protection Agency. But Delta has since upped their game and, late last month, unveiled a new app feature that allows passengers to track their luggage in real time!

Here's how it works! All checked luggage will be assigned a Radio Frequency Identification tag (or RFID tage) that allows it to be tracked in real-time using radio waves. That's what I am talking about! If my extra underwear has made it onto the plane in the cargo bay, I am going to know it. And scanners along the route will continuously track my luggage and send location information to my Delta app. So far, this tracking technology is available in 84 U.S. airports. I fly pretty regularly and, for me, this is a game changer. And it's pretty cool!

And I am about to get the chance to try this out for the first time. I have an upcoming flight that involves multiple stops and layovers. Trust me when I tell you . . . I will be tracking my underwear at every single stop.